The present invention relates to knitting aids, and in particular to knitting aids for use by persons having full use of only one hand.
Recreation therapists have been searching for a tool to enable persons with only one functional hand and arm to knit. Most people with two functioning hands are capable of holding a knitting needle in each hand in order to guide the needle tips around each other in the correct motion, while simultaneously holding tension on the yarn and guiding it around the needles in order to make each stitch. However, a person who has lost the use of one hand and arm is able to hold and control only one needle, which under ordinary circumstances makes the knitting process impossible. For example, persons who have suffered a stroke, brain injury, or a shoulder, arm, or hand injury, may be disabled on one side of the body, or may be weak in or unable to use one hand. To do intricate work normally requiring the use of both hands, such persons require a means of gripping a tool or workpiece which substitutes for the hand they are unable to use effectively.
There are a number of knitting aids available for the disabled which are intended to hold the knitting needle from which stitches are being cast off, in a position from which it is easy to work, and from which the needle can be removed without too much difficulty when all the stitches have been cast off. However, in practice none of these known knitting aids effectively meets these two criteria.
One such known knitting aid comprises a block secured to a belt which can be fastened around the user""s waist. The block has a hole in it for each size of needle, and in use the needle from which stitches are being cast off is pushed into its respective hole in the block and secured. However, being fastened on the belt around the user""s waist, the needle is usually found to be far too close to the body to make knitting comfortable.
Another known knitting aid comprises a clamp which can be tightened onto the needle from which stitches are being cast off. The clamp is provided with means for securing it to the arm of a chair in which the knitter is sitting, and in this position it is usually possible to knit comfortably. The problem with this particular knitting aid is that the clamp must be loosened in order to release the needle each time all the stitches have been cast off, and then the clamp must be tightened onto the needle to which all the stitches have been transferred. It has to be appreciated that where the user is disabled in one hand, repeatedly tightening and loosening the clamp may become very tiring and may distress the user. The user may then require supervision and assistance, which takes away a lot of the enjoyment from the knitter and is undesirable from a therapeutic point of view.
Clamping a needle solidly in place does allow the individual to knit, provided the proper angle can be obtained. Each person requires the needle to be set at an angle specific to the individual needs of the person, which most clamping devices are unable to accommodate. Clamping does not allow for ease of changing from one needle to the other at the end of each knitted row. As well, clamping will not allow the stitches to be held in place without hindering the knitting process, and clamping reduces the number of stitches that can be placed on a knitting needle, because a portion of the knitting needle is taken up by the clamp.
Another known knitting aid comprises one or two resiliently biased stops, positioned between two opposing jaws so as to retain the needle in a channel formed by the two jaws. The resiliently biased stops permit the knitting needle to be moved without the necessity of loosening a clamp, but they do not act to tension the loops of yam on the needle, and this knitting aid does not permit the needle to be oriented at the user""s optimum knitting position.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a knitting aid which firmly secures a knitting needle while it is being worked from, and from which the needle can be easily removed when all the stitches have been cast off.
The present invention seeks to achieve these objectives by the provision of a knitting aid for use by individuals who have only the use of one functional hand and arm, thus enabling them to participate in the process of knitting with a pair of conventional knitting needles. In general terms, the invention is a knitting aid which includes a knitting needle holder having a magnetic field, created electrically or from a permanent magnet, to hold a knitting needle, plus means for tensioning yarn being knitted. Holding the knitting needle in this way also acts to secure the stitches in place on the needle, which helps in maintaining desired tension on the stitches as they are cast off the needle during the knitting process. By using a magnetic field to hold the needle and the stitches in place until needed, the stitches can be easily repositioned when required, by merely lifting the needle away from the magnetic source.
The knitting needle holder may be mounted on a pivoting head attached to a C-clamp, thus making it portable and permitting the knitting needle holder to be oriented in the position necessary for the proper execution of the knitting procedure.
When a knitting needle is positioned in the needle holder of the invention, it will become magnetically attractive, such that the needle tips will be attracted to each other. This can be an advantage in the knitting process for users with weak or unsteady hands. Instead of the user having to hold the needle tips together, the needles are automatically in that position and only need to be pulled apart to allow the movement of yarn between them. As with magnet therapy, the magnets used may have a therapeutic aspect: a North pole magnet is said to relieve aggravation from arthritis.
The knitting needle holder can be made of wood, plastic or any other suitable material capable of adequately supporting the source of the magnetic field. The yarn tensioning device may be made from any suitable material. In one embodiment, the yarn tensioning device contains material capable of being attracted by a magnet, and the yarn tensioning device is held in position by the magnetic field.
The knitting needles contain a substance capable of being attracted by a magnet, such as steel.
Accordingly, in one aspect the present invention is a knitting aid comprising a knitting needle holder including a source of magnetic field, wherein the magnetic field may be used to hold a knitting needle for knitting, plus a yarn tensioning device adjustably connectable to the knitting needle holder. In the preferred embodiment, the source of magnetic field is contained within a magnet housing, and the magnet housing defines a channel proximate to the source of magnetic field, such that a knitting needle may be positioned in the channel and will be held therein by the magnetic field. The source of magnetic field may be a permanent magnet; alternatively, it may be an electrical current or an electrical device.
In the preferred embodiment, the yarn tensioning device includes a member attached substantially perpendicularly to a plurality of proximate members through which yarn can be woven. Yarn traversing the proximate members in succession thus travels along a tortuous path with resulting friction and tension, thereby tensioning the yarn. The yarn tensioning device is adjustably connectable to the knitting needle holder, and preferably is shaped so as to be easy to use by people who may not have complete use of one hand, and such that it facilitates convenient use with either English or European knitting methods. In one embodiment, the yarn tensioning device contains material capable of being attracted by a magnet. As well, the invention may include a yarn tensioning device guide, adjustably mountable to the knitting needle holder, to assist in positioning the yarn tensioning device in a desired position relative to the knitting needle holder.
Also in the preferred embodiment, the knitting aid also includes a mounting attached to the knitting needle holder for securing it in a suitable location. Preferably, the mounting is adjustable such that the knitting needle holder may be roatated and tilted. In one embodiment, the mounting is a C-clamp attached to a fixable rotatable swivel which includes a fixable rotatable ball joint.